Oregon Measure 63 could loosen home fix-it permits

Of the five initiatives Bill Sizemore qualified for November's ballot, Measure 63 is his favorite.

"I refer to it as 'Sizemore's blow for freedom,'" he said of the initiative, which would allow up to $35,000 worth of home improvements without a building permit. "To me, it's so highly symbolic that in a country that claims to be as free as ours, you can't go out and nail some boards to the side of your house without the government's permission."

Measure 63's opponents couldn't disagree more. They say the measure is poorly crafted and will, if approved, both set a national precedent and create significant safety issues for homeowners, neighbors and future buyers.

Measure 63

If passed, homeowners and certain farm property owners can do up to $35,000 of remodeling in a calendar year without having to obtain building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits. The $35,000 limit would be increased yearly for inflation. A licensed electrician would need to approve new electrical wiring. Homeowners would be required to divulge the scope of the work to potential buyers. Pro:BillSizemore.comCon:Oregonians Against Unsafe Housing

"This is terrible policy and it is very badly written," said Bill Cross, executive director of the Oregon Building Officials Association. "This is a scenario that's going to create many more problems than the one he may have been trying to solve."

Cross and others say the measure is merely one more way for Sizemore, a longtime foe of a variety of government functions, to nibble away at government's ability to enforce rules and regulations.

In allowing homeowners to perform up to $35,000 in remodeling in a single calendar year without a permit, they say, the measure would make Oregon the first state in the nation to approach the permitting process simply by attaching a monetary figure to proposed repairs.

More importantly, Cross and others say, Measure 63's approval would open the door to a raft of problems, not the least of which would be fires and building collapses caused by do-it-yourself carpenters in over their heads.

Fatal fire used as an example

Tim Birr is a retired firefighter who spent an entire week in 2002 helping investigate a fire at a Coos Bay auto and truck business that killed three firefighters. Investigators traced the cause to a self-installed grease incinerator.

Birr, while noting that Measure 63 applies to residences and not commercial establishments, said approval of the measure would lead to similar tragedies.

"Not true at all," Sizemore said. "All electrical work must be done by someone the state has certified as competent to do it or signed off on by someone competent to do it. It doesn't authorize nonpermitted second-story work and it maintains all existing height requirements and setbacks from property lines."

Got idea while at a Home Depot

Sizemore said he got the idea for the measure in mid-2005, when he drove up to a Home Depot store and saw couples and do-it-yourselfers pushing carts heaped with building materials, plumbing fixtures and tools toward their cars.

His interest piqued, he started asking shoppers whether they had secured building permits for their projects.

"They said, 'Why do you think I'm doing this on a Saturday, when building inspectors aren't working?' Or, 'This is going on the back of the house, where you can't see it from the street.'"

Local governments regulate residential construction, mainly to ensure safety, and the time and money required to get permits vary.

"This measure is a recognition that every day in Oregon, thousands of people are improving their property without government permission and they ought not be criminals for doing so," Sizemore said.

Opponents point to public safety

Numerous groups oppose the measure. They include the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association, the Professional Insurance Agents of Oregon and Idaho, the Home Builders Association of Oregon, and an array of electricians and plumbers' trade groups.

They dispute Sizemore's argument that their opposition stems from fears that the measure's passage would mean a loss of business.

"This is about public safety and nothing else," said Steve Stolze, owner of SLS Custom Homes in Tualatin. "If someone doesn't need a permit, who is going to check to see that the gas line isn't leaking? The corners this measure would cut will put homeowners and their neighbors in a dangerous position."

"$35,000 isn't that much money"

More than once, Stolze said, he has rescued a home carpenter who had unwittingly removed a weight-bearing wall, leaving a roof and entire second floor hanging only by a thread. The measure's approval would only make that problem worse, he said.

Sizemore, asked where he got the $35,000 expenditure ceiling for the measure, said, "It seemed like a good number, a number that was reasonable. You can spend from $60,000 to $80,000 remodeling kitchens and bedrooms these days so, really, $35,000 isn't that much money."

Steve Heiteen, president of Steven Heiteen Construction in Portland, took issue with Sizemore.

"I can't even fathom why he chose that figure, except they thought, from a populist view, people might buy into it," he said. "But the bottom line is, permits are actually a very small percentage of any remodeling job. For the amount of safety they ensure, they are more than worth the cost."